General Knowledge
by Smokey-Wisp
Summary: Mostly about Axca, her backstory, and her relationships with her fellow generals. Season 3 cannon.


**Nine Months Ago**

Lotor strode into the Galra outpost's headquarters. He conveyed his distain through his sneer and lidded eyes. The place was bare and shabby, a standard prefab that had never rated an upgrade. Fitting for such a miserable little transport way-station. He couldn't leave soon enough.

But before that, he needed to collect his generals who had spent the night in the brig. It wasn't the first time, it wouldn't be the last. In private, he encouraged their outrageous behavior. Having out-of-control underlings reinforced his image of a neer-do-well prince. It was easier undermining people who had a low opinion of you.

At Lotor's approach, the burly Galra captain behind the desk looked up and slowly stood at attention. A prince, even one publicly cast out of the high command and forced to hunt down rebels and mercenaries in the galaxy's backwaters, required a minimum show of respect. Emphasis on minimum.

"I've come to collect my men," he said.

"Men?" the captain didn't try very hard to hide his smirk.

"My Generals," said Lotor, "are more than a match for any of the officers stationed at this godforsaken facility."

That got a rise, "Your Generals," the captain's voice was laced with contempt for their titles, "landed eight soldiers in the infirmary, three of them officers, and caused structural damage to a drinking establishment."

"As I said, more than a match for any soldier stationed here," he tired of this conversation, "Pray, retrieve them. I have other matters to deal with."

Heir to the Empire didn't count for much when the ruler appeared to be immortal, but that's what Lotor was. And this captain had no choice but to obey. As the Galra left, a black, long-eared cat jumped on the counter.

"So, Kova, who threw the first punch?" asked Lotor, "it was Zethrid, correct?"

The woman's love of destruction was pure Galra. Kova tilted her head.

"Ezor, then?" His youngest General, the troublemaker, had a cruel streak that Lotor approved of. No response.

"Your mistress?" Narti, normally reserved, was swift and deadly if her charges or partner were at risk. Still nothing from the cat.

"Don't tell me it was Acxa?"

"Meow."

Well, that was a first.

 **Nine Months and One Night Ago**

"My, my, aren't you exotic," the Galra officer leaned into Ezor. Across the bar, Narti tensed. Through Kova, she could hear his insincerity, and smell the liquor in his sweat. This would not end well.

Ezor simply batted her sparkly blue eyes. She was still naïve when it came to the sordid baseness of Galra males, something encounters like this would cure her of soon enough.

"Your skin is the most intoxicating shade of pink. I told Raxhit here that you've gotta be part Zlanti Wayfarers." His friend, more burly and uncoordinated, leaned in too. Ezor was giving them both smiles.

Besides Nathri, Zethrid began to stand. Nathri stopped her with a well-placed hand. "We haven't finished our drinks, dear."

Zethrid sighed, "better drink fast then."

"Me and Raxhit here," the officer was saying, "we have a little bet going and hoped you could help us clear it up."

"Sure," said Ezor. If she noticed Acxa approaching the men from behind, she didn't react.

"Raxhit here thinks your sire must have been camp guard stationed at Militri work camps because they have the largest Zlanti slave population, what's left of them that is. But me, I'm thinking he was passing through Dogeirht Station in the Datubuni Ring because you can find any alien whore there."

Ezor's pink faded.

"So, which of us wins?" His smile twisted, making him even less attractive.

On the battlefield, Ezor was vicious and untouchable. But here, surrounded by her fellow soldiers, she'd let her defenses down. She hesitated, looking from one man to the other.

"You take the one on the left, Zethrid," said Nathri, getting up to stand.

But across the room, Axca had draped her arms over the officers. "Gentlemen, such unbecoming behavior." She pushed herself between them.

"You…" the Galra voice took on an uncertain quality. Unlike the rest of them, Axca could almost pass, just as long as you didn't see her eyes. The officer was staring at her face. "You're another half-breed, aren't you?"

"How clever," said Axca in her flattest voice, "Care to guess my heritage?"

Zethrid, who had exceptional hearing, said, "They're either drunk, or stupid."

"Or both," said Netri. Axca was smiling, not an expression she usually wore.

"I don't know … hey, your ears, they're kind of… stubby, like the slave fighter who keeps winning. What's his name?

"Champion," his friend filled in, "from some backwater planet called Errr-"

He didn't get any further because, with a snarl, Axca stepped back and slammed the two Galra males' heads together so hard that Netri's ears were the only ones in the bar that didn't hear the hollow clap they made.

 **Four Months Ago**

Zethrid handed Axca the gun. It was a heavy piece, but the girl had been practicing and easily hoisted it to her shoulder. Zethrid turned on the targets and watched them as they lazily floated across the shooting range.

"You good with this, Axca?" she asked. Usually Zethrid left the emotion part to Narti, but Lotor had sent her and Ezor off on an intelligence gathering gig.

Axca's lips were pressed tight as she fired, easily taking down one of the glowing target balls. In response, the others sped up their movements.

"With what specifically?" asked Axca. "Solo mission? Or this next, more active phase of Lotor's plan?"

"Both."

Axca's eyes never left the targets, her words were punctuated by hits. "I'm not the stray you and Narti gave a home to five years ago. I can handle myself."

She shot down another ball, but not to accentuate her point. Unlike Zethrid, Axca didn't fight with anger. The girl was patient, focused. Unlike the others, her alien heritage didn't give her special abilities, but Zethrid sometimes wondered if her father's genetic material hadn't given her a more subtle edge. What Axca lacked in flash, she made up in effectiveness.

"Agreed," said Zethrid, "we wouldn't let you go alone if we didn't have confidence in your success."

Did a hint of a smile flash across her face? Zethrid couldn't tell. She reset the simulation, bumping it up another level.

"And our commander's plan?" she pushed.

"Actively working to overthrow Zarkon to allow Lotor to claim the throne, and in the process becoming top commanders in the Galra Empire? Actually running a regime that only tolerates us because of Lotor's protection?"

"Yes, that," agreed Zethrid. The targets were zooming and whirling by. Acxa's bullets were just as effective, but she took a bit more time aiming.

"What other choice do we have than to follow Lotor? Throw our lot in with a bunch of shadow-lurkers who do nothing but hide? Even if we wanted to join the Blade of Marmora, they would never have us."

"There are rumors," Zethrid said carefully, "that Voltron has been resurrected. They stole the Red Lion."

Axca missed a shot. She followed with two more hits.

"Five war machines against an Empire?" Her voice was cold and analytic, even as a child she hadn't cared for fairy tails. "Odds don't seem very good."

Fire more shots. The simulation ended.

"I want to take the Empire down and Lotor's got the best plan. More importantly, I want to do it with you and Netri and Ezor. You're my family."

"And your mother?" For the first time in their conversation, Axca turned her eyes away.

"You're my family," she repeated.

 **Three Months Ago**

Axca picked at her multicolored cake.

"I know," said Ezor, "it tasted pretty wreched, but you've got to give Zethrid credit, it really looks like a weblum. And check this out," Ezor sliced through Axca's piece, "Those bits that will break your teeth are made out of real scautrite."

That made Axca laugh.

"Seriously," Ezor scooted closer, "you were out of contact for almost a month, we were starting to get worried."

"I succeeded in my mission, it just took a bit longer," said Axca. "I appreciate the party, but I don't think I did anything to deserve it."

"Those two just wanted a party," Ezor nodded across the room to where Nerfi was curled into one side of Zefrid while Kova took the other side. "Try the booze, it only looks like worm vomit."

"Ezor," Axca's voice was quiet, "the reason I was gone so long…"

Ezor sat up and looked at her friend. Axca was pretty tight lipped about things. But there was a special bond between them, at least Ezor thought there was. They'd been together since Narti found Axca wandering around a space station, and Ezor thought of her as an older sister.

"I messed up and my ship got trapped in the Weblum," Axca confessed.

"How did you get out?"

"I was rescued," Axca continued.

"In the belly of a Weblum?" It seemed impossible, but that was as nothing compared to what Axca said next.

"I think they were the Paladins of Voltron."

Ezor gasped.

"Please," Axca begged, and she never begged, "you can't tell anyone. Prince Lotor -"

"- doesn't care for failure," Ezor finished, "I won't tell. But … Voltron? Are you sure? Our intelligence says their home planet -" Axca cut her off with a hug. Ezor squeezed her back. Axca was not into physical contact, at least the type that didn't involve opponents eating floor.

It was a brief embrace and then Axca was walking away. Ezor munched on Weblum cake and watched her go.

 **The Present**

They'd lost the piece of the Olkari teleduv, and it was Axca's fault.

Zethrid had taken as much of the blame as she could and Axca was both grateful and ashamed. She'd been indecisive in the fight and in the comet ship. And she knew why.

In the room she shared with Ezor, she took out a small box and jiggered open a panel on the side. She slipped out a folded piece of paper and opened it. It was a family photograph, her family. The only physical evidence she had, besides her pupiled eyes, that the story her mother had told her was true.

Once there was a soldier, a double agent embedded in a Galra military unit searching out the Voltron Lions. Her mission was to take them down when they landed on their next planet, an isolated blue and white sphere of a world. She'd succeeded, but almost died, and only survived because she was nursed back to health by one of the planet's aliens.

They fell in love.

Axca touched the image of the Galra woman and the pale skinned, dark-haired alien in the photo. If she thought hard enough, she could still remember her mother's scent and voice and kind yellow eyes. But of the man, she had no memory, only this image.

Her parents had hidden away in the wilderness for safety; the residents of the planet didn't believe in aliens. They were happy, her mother had told her. And even happier when they gave birth to twins. A boy and a girl who would never be mistaken for each other. He was indistinguishable from any alien on the planet, and she had her mother's purple skin, pointed ears, and monochrome eyes.

It was a blessing and a curse. A blessing because each child had the chance to grow up normal. A curse because that normal life could only happen if her mother returned with her to the stars and her brother and father remained on that backwards planet.

It almost worked. But when Axca hit puberty, her eyes changed. Her mother's cover story fell apart and the Galra soldiers stormed their home. Axca's mother stood her ground like a Galra soldier, but she told her daughter to run. Axca had never seen her again.

Kova found her wandering, hiding out in the Unilu space mall and Narti brought her to live with them. Later they helped her as she tried to track down her mother. But the trail had gone cold. Axca didn't know whether the Galra had finished her mother off, or if she'd gone into hiding. It didn't matter, she'd vowed her vengeance on Zarkon and his followers.

Netri and Zethrid and Ezor had no love for the Empire and they promised to help her. More than their common cause, they became her family. And now they followed a commander whose plans for Zarkon fulfilled her deepest desire.

But sometimes she still dreamed of the desert, her first home. Of the hot wind that burned her throat. Of the stillness and shades of black that came with nightfall. Of the isolation she felt when looking up into a sky full of stars, so distant and remote. Of the physical sensation of speeding through an atmosphere aboard a red hovercraft.

Axca looked again at the picture of the human baby, her brother, Keith. She should remember as little of him as her father. And yet, she'd created a place for him within her mind, an imaginary brother who aged alongside her. He was there when her mother would move them to a new assignment and Axca would wait alone in their quarters until she returned from her shift. He was with her as she scavenged through the garbage of the space mall's food court. He trained beside her as Zethrid cycled through her practice katas or Narti instructed her in mediation. And he was trapped In the cockpit as the weblum's intestinal bile rose around her and the emergency life support engaged, robbing her of consciousness.

It seemed only natural when he shot up the hatch and freed her. Except this time, Keith was real.

She'd kept silent, giving him no clue that she was anything other than a simple Garla soldier. But he recognized her when they fought on the raid at TK station. Had he too dreamed of her all these years?

Keith was the reason she'd been slow to respond in the comet fighter, had failed to stop Voltron from destroying the teleduv tine, and why she'd let down her family, her true family.

Axca crumpled the photograph, intending to throw it down the incinerator. She would destroy this single bit of evidence, sever the link, destroy Voltron and its Paladins without hesitation when they next faced off.

She heard a purr. Kova was watching with just her cat eyes – Narti didn't always live inside the feline's head. Axca petted her and felt its calm sooth her agitation. Even without her mistress's influence, Kova was more than an animal.

Taking a deep breath, she smoothed the photograph, flattening out the creases and returned it to its hiding place. She wouldn't be rash, wouldn't let her emotions steer her. When she next faced her brother and his teammates, she would be rational, in control, and she would complete her mission.

She fell back on her mantra, patience yields focus.

 _Author's note: I'm totally convinced that Axca will be revealed to be Keith's sister in season 4. I made them twins, because twins are always cooler. It would be neat if there was some sort of connection between them. Keith has always seemed the fastest at adapting to space – he was the first to embrace the cause of ridding the universe of Zarkon, he knew the bathroom gender symbols._

 _Anyway, I adore Lotor's generals and I hope they're redeemed in the way that Mai and Ty Lee switched sides in Avatar._


End file.
